Anyone help with my gas and electric?

[wiggleshasmylife]

We live in a 2 bedroom end terraced house. We have a smart meter. SSE have insisted since living here our gas is 28 pounds a month. I thought that was too low. There's 2 adults and a baby living here. I've questioned it but been told not to worry. 8 weeks ago they emailed me my yearly usage and bill for the year and wanted to increase our gas bill to 78 pounds a month. We cannot afford that massive increase. Covid has screwed our finances. I have no issues paying my bills but a 60 pound increase is ridiculous. I rang them and discussed paying 40 pounds a month and to discuss in 6 months when hopefully things are better for us. This month they've taken the full 78 pounds and an increase on our electric of 24 pounds. I've had no choice but to cancel and stop the direct debit. We were in an unauthorised overdraft with no money going in for another 4 weeks. The money is back in my account and we've decided to switch suppliers and have done so but what do I do about this months bill? I dont have the increased money.

It will need to be paid before your switch goes ahead. Can you pay some now and then some later rather than all at once?

Who have you switched to? Make sure you are paying a monthly amount that covers your usage

Did you not take regular meter readings and get current balances for that time?

If its a smart meter it should have been sending readings automatically

We had a smart meter put in last year and they replaced the gas meter. They told me the smart meter was giving them the readings. I havent given a reading manually since then. I have absolutely no issue paying it but I dont have nearly 150 pounds to give them for this month. I've rung them numerous times.to query if.my bill is correct. And they've said yes each time. I've had to cancel the direct debit yesterday or we get charged something like 8 pound a day to be in a unauthorised overdraft and we don't get paid for another 28 days.

We've moved to EDF. Who I am going to ring this morning to discuss the direct debit amounts

Again I've always had a theory the smart meter was wrong but 4 weeks after having it installed I had a baby so keeping an eye on it was the least of my concerns. I have lived here since October 2019 and they have insisted 28 pound a month was adequate. I took their word for it. I dont really understand how gas and electric usage works financially

There are providers you can move to who give you a £50 credit to your account when you switch e.g. Octopus, Bulb, etc. The person whose referral link you use also get £50. If you change your mind about EDF then just ask for a referral code to save you money (I'm with Octopus)

Chances are the increase is to pay off the debt and get ahead for winter because many companies like you to start at zero in the middle of the summer, build up a bit of a credit, use that up over winter and then get back down to zero by next summer.

So you were right that £28 was not enough and also that £78 is probably too much and the right amount is somewhere in the middle.

However, you knew that £28 pm wasn't enough for your gas use, so will have to pay the debt that has built up somehow.

Have you had a really good review of your finances and sought any help available with the covid impact?

Do you have other debts? Are you sure your account charges you for the overdraft, because I thought that wasn't allowed any more and they were only allowed to charge interest, which should be a lot less than £8 a day unless your overdraft is huge, and then the charge will be due to all the debt, not just the money that was taken for the gas and electricity.

Sounds like you might need to take a step back and look at this issue as part of the whole problem in that, if you can't afford to pay for essentials like your G&E bill, you need to look at your entire budget, reprioritise (increase your income if you can, reduce the cost of essentials, cut down or cut out any non essentials, only pay what unsecured debt you can afford after your basic essentials are covered, and if you still can't make the payments, that's an indication that you might need more formal help).

Start here:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Good luck.

I did know it wasn't enough and I phoned them to tell them several times. Seems very unfair to me that they can ignore my request to increase it when I ask but then just increase it when they want.
I've gone thru our finances quite a lot. We don't earn enough. But changing our jobs and hours is not likely with covid. Plus we work opposite shifts to save childcare. We had some advice about childminders on a previous thread being cheaper which they are but none have any availability around here..plus we have a different schedule every week and they want set days and hours. Cant do that. We have no luxuries. No TV license. Netflix ect. We walk to work. We got a mortgage 4 months before covid and fell pregnant 2 months before covid. 2 things I would have rescheduled if id have known. Our mortgage cannot be reduced. Our jobs are 2 of the first to close if covid spikes again. Sorry going off topic. I know it needs paying but I cant magic money out of thin air. I had to cancel the direct debit or we won't eat. My bank charges. 2 months ago a bill went out early and I didn't realise and there was an 8 pound charge on the account so I'm assuming that they charge that amount a day

That does sound tough. Those other things aren't off topic. Often trouble with one bill is a sign of a much bigger problem, so it's not always best to focus solely on what appear to be the main issue at the time. Have you reviewed your entitlement to benefits if your income has dropped?

If you genuinely can't afford food, you should access a food bank.

On the matter of the overdraft, they shouldn't be charging you a daily fee so that's worth looking into. Lots of information about overdrafts here:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/cut-overdraft-costs/

It's an easy trap to get into and one that can be difficult and expensive to get out of, so you mustn't bury your head in the sand as the problem will only get worse and take up too much of your much needed income.

My energy provider lets you change your direct debit amount online so you can choose what you want to pay. When you input meter readings it also updates almost immediately to show what you've used that month e.g. my last readings showed I used £21 gas and £83 electric

This is way I pay slightly more by not doing DD but just pay the bill every 3m when they are due. That way you know summer is better and out away more in winter. There is no guessing of future amounts or paying for year extra to find out that you didn’t spend that much.

I have had smart meters in 2 different properties and feel they cannot be relied upon for accuracy at yhe moment

Demand compensation, bulb messes with me, got some compenstion, they took my electric and not gas.
Some stupid error about someone else switching, I pay monthly and moved

Always do meter readings every month

I thought smart meters were supposed to ensure readings were accurate. Isn't that part of the flannel? Sends readings to the supplier in real time?

I'd be complaining tbh. If their smart meter isn't doing what it's supposed to then they can't justify being inflexible about payments!

I'd be complaining. I thought smart meters were installed to do the work for you of submitting readings.

Problem is, personally I've felt a huge increase in my gas and electricity bill and that isn't due to excessive usage, just what the rates currently are. I am paying nearly £30 more than I have ever paid a month in the whole 10 years I've lived here. I've always been in lots of credit even in the winter months.

I moved supplier in April to the cheapest I could get, that being £30 more than I was paying! I nearly fall through the floor when I input my readings in each month to find my monthly payment is nearly fully eaten up by 1 months usages and that was based on less units than we were using.

It's fair to say I am scared for this winter based on my current bills. I'm building no credit to help me in those colder months. I am using no more than we ever have been. I dont work from home either. Its just got very expensive! We are in a small mid terrace and an now paying £96 a month for both.

Chances are the increase will be a combination of increase in energy costs as well as for future bills in the winter.

I really feel for you. The cost of living is so hard. I am a one income family with a child. I've felt such a strain in these last few months its really getting to me

I genuinely have no issue paying it. I just hate that they've snubbed me for the last 14 months telling me that I'm paying an adequate amount and to not worry but then to turn it around and tell me I'm wrong and actually I owe them a massive increase a month. Sound like a broken record but covid sucks and our finances are so tight right now.

I finally got in touch with sse and the man who I spoke to said the customer service agent who I originally spoke to about the increase and changed it to 40 a month didn't save the updated direct debit so it was her mistake. Which I know mistakes happen but sse have been going downhill for a long time and this feels like the final straw

To be honest OP, I would take it up with them and be quite direct about it. You told them several times that the bill was likely to be incorrect. They told you it wasn’t. Assuming this is all evidenced then I would be sending them an email to say so. Point out that their mistake has in effect made you a vulnerable customer and you’ll be referring them to OFGEM.

It’s fine that they increased your bill, after all fair usage = fair payment but if you have raised this numerous times and they have said to you numerous times that your payment is fine and that you’re not underpaying, then they should be under some sort of challenge. I’d write to their compliance and complaints department first, state that they have caused you to become vulnerable and ask them what they intend to do about it.

They might have the legals to back themselves up, but it seems to me that they have told you ‘you’re fine’ when you’re not and have put you in a position of detriment.

The words you want are ‘vulnerable customer’ and caused me ‘detriment’

Link to OFGEM policy www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-policy-and-regulation/policy-and-regulatory-programmes/consumer-vulnerability-protections

OP, would you talk to the bank about your strained financial circumstances due to Covid and see if they’d give you a payment break for six months? It’d take the pressure off you

I thought that they couldn't backdate energy costs more than 12 months. If they haven't charged you the right amount for 14 months, you should be able to get 2 months written off, which will reduce the outstanding balance a bit.

I'd also put in a formal complaint, as you kept telling them it was wrong and they ignored what you said, so failed to look into it properly. Explain that the increase is causing financial hardship for you and your family. Then take it to Ofgem if you're not satisfied.

A few years ago, I helped 2 clients put in a complaint when they'd been charging their meters to the wrong accounts. The one who'd underpaid got the debt written off and £250 compensation and the one who'd overpaid got a big refund and £750 compensation.